Workers who actively perform tasks at workbenches, desks or other working surfaces frequently operate tools, utensils, implements, instruments or other apparatuses. For example, a carpenter's workbench may include one or more hammers, screwdrivers, drills, wrenches or other handheld tools. A sewing table may feature various types of scissors for cutting fabric or embroidery, as well as rippers, hooks and various spools of thread to be used by a seamstress or tailor. A teacher's desk may include one or more pens, pencils, staplers, tape dispensers, erasers and the like, as well as one or more computer devices or peripherals (e.g., laptop computers, tablet computers, mice, trackballs or track pads). Because not every apparatus is required to perform each of the tasks that may be completed at such a working surface, a worker may frequently pick up and put down one or more tools in various locations on the working surface, which may also be covered with raw materials or accessories such as paper, cloth, wood or metal of various kinds or types.
Occasionally, however, one or more of the various apparatuses used to perform tasks at a working surface may be lost or temporarily misplaced. Existing systems or techniques for maintaining control over such apparatuses, such as tethering the apparatuses to portions of the working surface, or marking the apparatuses with an identifier associated with the working surface, are limited in their effectiveness, for various reasons. For example, a tether may hinder or restrict the normal operation of an apparatus at the workstation, or prevent the apparatus from being temporarily used at other workstations. Likewise, a marking or other identifier may not, by itself, prevent the apparatus from being lost or misplaced, particularly when a worker's hands cover the identifier during normal operation.
Additionally, in an industrial or commercial environment in which large numbers of items arrive, depart or are stored at high rates of speed, the ability to quickly and easily capture and record information regarding conditions of such items may be hindered. For example, in a fulfillment center environment, items may be received from multiple sources at any given time, and may be automatically transferred from one location to another, e.g., by way of one or more conveyors. A worker who notices a defect or deficiency associated with an item or its packaging, or another condition that may require special handling, must typically remove the item from a conveyor, manually or automatically record information regarding the item and its condition, and then manually transport the item to a specific location or return the item to the conveyor system. Such actions necessarily delay the processing of the item, as well as the capacity to timely address any deficiencies associated with its condition.